"Padfoot! Pads! Wake up!" James pulls back the curtains surrounding his best friend's bed and rams his legs against the mattress to rouse the late sleeper.
"Mary? Mary, are you awake?" Lily hisses, a note of panic in her whisper. "Please wake up - I have to talk to you!"
"Fuck off!" growls Sirius, and he rolls away from James's prodding limbs. "Come back when the sun is up proper."
"Mate, this is serious," James pleads in a tone so rarely heard that Sirius bites back the usual "No, I'm Sirius" joke and opens one grey eye warily.
"I'm up, I'm up!" Mary jolts awake, alarmed, and immediately hits Lily in the face with a pillow but then stops the onslaught upon seeing the fear etched on the red-head's face."Lils? What is it?"
James scrubs his hands down his face, sighing dramatically. "I'm screwed, Sirius. I fucked up royally this time."
Sirius scowls. "Evans? You woke me up to tell me that once again you've managed to destroy whatever shred of decency the girl finally sees in you? C'mon, Prongs, you've got to be kidding me."
"No, that's not it. It's - it's both of us. This is big…"
"Oh Mary," Lily cries, burying her face in her hands. The rest of her words are a muffled mix of worry and despair. "James and I - well, we…"
Mary watches her friend patiently, giving her the time she needs to put her thoughts together, but in the interim, she mentally finishes that sentence a million different ways. "We broke up." "We got caught naked in the Prefect's bathroom." "We killed Voldemort." "We had a threesome with Sirius."
"Out with it, mate." The disowned heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black rises from his bed and stands imposingly over the forlorn figure hunched on the corner of the four-poster.
James looks into Sirius's eyes and rights himself. His posture rigid, he takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Right. Sorry. Just a bit freaked out. You see, Lily and I have recently taken our relationship to a more, uh, well, a more intimate level - "
"You want shagging advice? Is that it? You need step-by-step instructions to keep your witch satisfied?" Sirius's smug expression is almost too much to bear.
"Oi! Shut it for a mo' and let me finish! I need you to help me with what is possibly the biggest moment in my life!"
Mary pats Lily's knee comfortingly. "Whatever it is, honey, you can tell me. That's what friends are for, yeah?" The upset witch finally makes eye contact with her friend and shrugs in resignation.
"Okay. You're right. Thank you, Mary. You've always been a good friend." Lily straightens her shoulders and stands tall. "I just never thought this would happen to me, you know? I mean, you hear about it happening to other people, but… Oh, how could I have been so impetuous?!" She slumps again, wailing in agitation.
"Potter, if you don't tell me what's got your knickers in a twist right now, I'm Confunding you and going back to bed," Sirius warns in a low voice.
"I just, I can't - I mean how do we? We're too young! I'm not ready for this!" James paces the length of floor beside Sirius's bed, grateful for the Muffliato he had thrown up when he first ran into the room, not so distracted to remember to share his news with only one other Marauder for the time being.
"Prongs…" Sirius growls menacingly.
"Yes. Right. Okay. So, yes, Lily and I are moving our relationship forward -"
Sirius punches the air. "I knew it! Oh, Pete, you owe me!"
"Anyway, so - wait, what? Are you lot betting on when me and Evans are going to start sleeping together?" James's eyes are round and incredulous for a moment before returning to their currently-normal state of worry, since really, this revelation isn't at all surprising; in fact, he would have gotten in on that action if he'd known.
"Lily, are you trying to say that you and James are, well, taking your relationship up a notch?" Mary asks carefully. She still can't get a good read on her friend.
"Oh, we definitely took it up a notch," Lily huffs impatiently. "Though don't tell Sirius. I know he has a pool going, and I don't want him to know every detail."
Mary's lips turn up at the corners, her cheeks pinking slightly. "Busted. But then, how did you know?"
"Please. Like I can't tell when Sirius Black is up to something. And since when did you and Marlene spend that much time with him and Remus and Peter? I figured it had to be something about me and James to bring you all together."
"Sirius, I don't know what to do. We've been sleeping in the same bed for two weeks now, and last night I thought I should try something new. You know, make sure she doesn't think I only want one thing."
The canine Animagus groans and holds his hands up. "Mate, I'm happy for you and all, but I don't want to know about your technique, really. I was only taking the piss earlier."
James shoves Sirius in the shoulder. "Shut up, git. What I mean is, I wanted her to be happy, and in the heat of the moment, I kind of lost control -"
"Again, too much information."
"Last night, just as things got really carried away -"
"You're not going to go into vivid detail, are you, Lils? Because I love you, but I need to be able to look James Potter in the face everyday."
"Oh you!" Lily laughs lightly but then returns to panic mode. "No! What James and I do is private...well, except for this. I mean, I just have to tell someone what happened! Mary, everything was going so well, but then I lost control and without thinking I -"
"Alright, Prongs, I get it."
"You do?"
"Say no more. There's no need to panic. If anyone can figure this out, it's the two of you."
"You think so? You think we can make it through this?"
"Mate, there's nothing to make it through! How badly could you have bungled this up?"
"Oi! Don't kick a bloke when he's down!"
"Sorry, sorry. You think I can fix this, though?"
"Fix it? Well, it depends on how you left it with her. Was she satisfied?"
"Satisfied? What do you mean? She looked as freaked out as me!" James's voice is high and frightened. Is he really going to lose Lily over one night?
"Lily! Did you two...really? Okay. Okay. Don't panic." Mary hugs her friend closely.
"Don't panic? How do you expect me to react? Of course I'm panicking!"
"That prat! How dare he make you feel this way! I'm so sorry. But don't worry; you're not alone, I promise."
Lily squeezes Mary's hands in hers, green eyes glistening. "I knew I could count on you."
"I'm here. No matter what James does, I'm here."
"What do you think he'll do? Is he going to leave me?" Lily's chest rises and falls rapidly. Will James reject her after what happened last night?
"Okay, here's the plan. You need to go back to the Heads Dorm and act cool, got it? Just relax and show her that you care. I mean, you don't regret it, do you?"
"Regret it? I don't know. It's too far too fast, don't you think?" James pleads with his friend for understanding.
"Mate, you two have been doing this dance for six years! Too fast? I don't think so. No one will be surprised by this."
"You can't tell anyone!"
"Marauders' honor."
"Thanks, mate. I knew I could count on you. Here goes nothing."
"Uh, Lily?"
"Yes, James?"
The terrified wizard runs one hand down the back of his head and rubs his neck nervously. The distraught witch rocks back and forth and tugs on the wrists of her jumper. Neither makes eye contact.
The silence stretches on forever.
Until…
"I love you!" They both blurt.
Green eyes snap up to meet hazel. Hazel eyes widen in surprise at the sincerity found in green..
"Not again..." Lily groans.
"Still?" James asks, shocked.
Two nodding heads. Two slow smiles. Two hands reaching for each other.
"Lils, I love you. I'm not sorry that I said it, but I am sorry it just slipped out last night, and I freaked out after I said it -"
"No! James, I'm the one who needs to apologize. I've wanted to say it for weeks and last night I just couldn't hold back!"
"So...now what?" His arms slide around her as she snuggles into his chest on the couch in their shared common room.
"Now, we move forward, don't you think?. We love each other, and we've both said it, though awkwardly and simultaneously. Merlin, I'll have to visit Mary soon to tell her it's all okay."
"Mary? What's she got to do with this?"
"Uh, well, when I woke up this morning, I ran to my old dorm and told Mary that I accidentally told you I loved you. She was very supportive and assuring."
James chuckles, and his chest vibrates with the low rumble.
"Funny, Evans, I did the same thing. Not with Mary, mind, but with Sirius."
"You told Sirius that you told me you loved me?" Lily turns around in his embrace, surprised that he would share such an emotional milestone with the playboy.
"I told him that we were snogging and we both said it and then we both froze and I was afraid we'd ruined our relationship."
"That's exactly what I ended up telling Mary! Of course, she assumed I was upset because we'd shagged or something -"
"Sirius too! Did you know they have a bet going?"
Lily snorts indelicately. "Are you seriously surprised?"
James pulls her back into his embrace and nuzzles her hair, relaxing into her once more.
"No, I guess not."
"I should say so. As if we'd shag this early in our relationship. And as if we'll tell them when we do."
Comfortable silence.
"Lils?"
"Yeah, James?"
"I love you."
"Love you too."